1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrode for a lithium secondary battery employed to store electrical energy, as well as to a lithium secondary battery provided with the aforementioned electrode.
This application is based on patent application No. Hei 9-277072 filed in Japan, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Cathodes and anodes for lithium secondary batteries have been manufactured as follows.
A powder of a cathode or anode active electrode material is added to an N-methylpyrolidone (NMP) solution in which the binding agent polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF) has been dissolved, with the powder dispersed and mixed into the solution. In addition, as required, the powder of a conductive material such as carbon may also be added to the N-methylpyrolidone (NMP), and dispersed and mixed therein. As a result, a slurry containing a mixture of the cathode or anode active electrode material and the binding agent is obtained.
This slurry is then coated to a metallic collector such as aluminum, copper or nickel foil and dried. As a result, the N-methylpyrolidone (NMP) is removed by evaporation during drying, to obtain the positive or negative electrode.
N-methylpyrolidone (NMP) is an organic solvent, however. Accordingly, harmful organic gases are released during drying, making this technique problematic in terms of its safety.
In order to avoid this problem, it is necessary to provide expensive equipment to recover the organic solvent. As a result, it becomes costly to produce the electrode.